Purple Line prompts look at Chevy Chase

Growth plans to be developed for areas around proposed light rail line stations

Spurred by a possible Purple Line Metro station at Connecticut Avenue, the county is updating a development plan for Chevy Chase.

County planners are gathering business and resident input to help create the Chevy Chase Lake Sector Plan, which will create new growth, land-use and zoning guidelines around Chevy Chase Lake Drive and Connecticut Avenue, where a shopping center is located.

Major changes could take place at the Chevy Chase Lake property, which is near a proposed elevated station for the Purple Line, a 16-mile light rail system that would connect Bethesda to New Carrollton.

"The construction there is going to be more intensive than it is in other areas," planner Melissa Williams said of Chevy Chase Lake.

Such intense development could also increase concerns about worsening traffic congestion along Connecticut Avenue.

The Chevy Chase Lake Sector Plan will revise a portion of the 1990 Bethesda-Chevy Chase Master Plan to address the anticipated Purple Line, a 16-mile light rail system connecting downtown Bethesda to New Carrollton and approved by Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) in August. Funding for the $1.67 billion project is being studied by the Federal Transit Administration.

The development principles will initially consider a two-mile radius of Chevy Chase Lake Drive and Connecticut Avenue, although the final scope will be smaller, said Williams, who said she expects the plan will go to the County Council for approval within 18 months to two years. A similar Sector Plan process is underway along the Purple Line's proposed route in the Long Branch area of Silver Spring, and a Sector Plan for the Takoma Langley Crossroads area, another possible location for a Purple Line stop, should be approved by the Planning Board in June for submission to the County Council.

Growth plans may be created for areas around the larger proposed Purple Line stations, such as downtown Bethesda and the Silver Spring Transit Center, Williams said.

Thirteen municipalities and nine homeowner and civic groups and commercial stakeholders are scheduled to be included in the process. The first community meeting with planners was after The Gazette's deadline Tuesday.

Although she does not think the guidelines would include her community, Town of Chevy Chase Mayor Kathy Strom said she is concerned about traffic impacts.

The Purple Line would not alleviate traffic on Connecticut Avenue, she said, and would amplify the problem if businesses are added around Chevy Chase Lake.

"We've been fortunate that Connecticut Avenue has not been too densely developed," Strom said.

Other residents, such as Janet Hall, are concerned with the future of the family-owned Chevy Chase Supermarket, which opened in 1958.

Hall, a 15-year resident of Chevy Chase who lives on the west side of Connecticut Avenue across from Chevy Chase Lake, is worried that the grocer would be forced to close if the area was redeveloped. Its personal touch and interest in local growers should be preserved, she said.

"It is the jewel, and I would hate to see so much...upscale development happen that that grocery store could not stay in business," Hall said. "It's sort of like a throwback to another era."

Kevin Kirsch, a co-owner of the supermarket, declined comment.

Bob Dalrymple, a Bethesda-based attorney for the Chevy Chase Land Company, said since the Sector Plan process and the federal study of the Purple Line are in their early stages, the company does not have firm plans for redeveloping Chevy Chase Lake.

The fate of the Purple Line could be affected by what happens at the commercial property, said Dalrymple. The development was built in the 1950s, he said.

"Major redevelopment of this area would definitely be predicated on a Purple Line being in place," Dalrymple said. "In order to get the Purple Line funded, it has to be competitive in attracting federal dollars. A major [criterion] of federal dollars is whether or not local government is allowing for transit-oriented development."